Madness in March: The Bold and the Beautiful Two Scoops for the week of March 17, 2025

There's only one story left for Daphne on The Bold and the Beautiful

Has your week been like The Bold and the Beautiful? Did you discover that a verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on? Did you decide someone you admired had the traits of a traitor? Did you get a grandma who skipped pinching your cheeks and went straight for your lips? These and more situations faced the Forrester-Logan-Walton-Nozawa clan this week!

Beware the side eyes of March, Scoopers! Basketball limited episodes this St. Patty's week to three, but that didn't stop B&B's lads and lassies from getting up to their usual shenanigans. Daphne's continual orbit around Zende says more than her feelings for Carter do, and Steffy's fam didn't have Forrester back two seconds before she became its attack dog again. Then Luna didn't get a kissing cousin, but a kissing granny! 'Tis no blarney! Let's Scoop about it!

People are strange

Eric and Ridge were happy to get the company back, watching gleefully as Carter tore up his LLC papers. Did I miss something, or didn't Carter already make confetti out of those last week? And as I said last week, ditching the documents doesn't automatically mean Carter's rescinded control. If I were Ridge or Eric, I'd follow Carter to whatever county clerk office I had to and see to the legal transfer personally.

Carter and his BFF and his BFF's pop all hugged it out, with Carter saying, “Success means nothing if you alienate the people who mean everything to you.” Well, Carter kinda already did that to Eric when he had sex with Eric's wife. But, speaking of people who should mean everything to Carter, where's his adoptive bro Marcus and his adoptive niece Rosie? We haven't heard about them since they split for South Africa in 2013. Even in real-time, Rosie is in high school by now.

Not surprisingly, it didn't take long for Eric, Ridge, and Steffy to get together with Taylor and crow about how ownership of Forrester had been given back to them. Eric, at least, doesn't do smug, and Taylor...well, this one really doesn't do much of anything. Ridge and Steffy...I think they claim the word “insufferable” as intellectual property. Ridge has never once considered the possibility that maybe Hope wasn't using Carter, and Steffy's nose remains so high in the air, I'm surprised mosquitoes don't fly up it.

Peaceful soul that Eric usually is, he wanted to put the whole Carter/LLC thing in the past and move on. But not Steffy. No, instead of victory simply being enough, her frown stayed permanently glued to her face. She still didn't trust Carter, and there was no way she was working with Hope. Mind you, this was after Eric and Ridge assured Carter that there actually was a future for Hope for the Future.

But hey! What's a kept word these days? I'm so tired of Steffy and her haughty attitude, like she's never done anything wrong. Let Finn run a DNA test on Kelly and let's see how inviolate Steffy is. (Because y'all know Bill is the dad.) Despite what her dad and granddad had already decided, Steffy wanted to make Carter, Hope, and Brooke pay for their crimes.

Brooke? What did Brooke do except what none of the other Forresters did – get herself behind enemy lines so she could wear Carter down until he gave the design house back? She should know as that was Ridge's strategy when Brooke herself took over the company in 1993. And before y'all credit Daphne with putting Carter in touch with his conscience, remember...it was Brooke who got that ball rolling.

And I'm crazy for loving you

Hope did up a romantic dinner for Carter, I guess being over that whole Daphne-kissing-Carter thing. Hope saw to the main dish, but Carter brought dessert, just not one that Hope was gonna like. As Hope went on about their relationship, Carter flashed back to tearing up the LLC documents, even though he'd only done that a couple of scenes earlier. Why don't we just make the whole show a series of flashbacks already? Lawd.

Carter didn't spend episodes fiddle-farting around about telling Hope about the transfer, though. He pretty much got to it, admitting to Hope that the takeover hadn't felt right for quite a while. Plus, he'd taken an oath in front of the state bar, which didn't actually match his acquisition actions. And then there was the fact that he had dishonored Eric. Dishonored? What is Carter now, Klingon? Well, he has been acting like a bloodless patahk!

To say Hope wasn't happy about Carter's decision is an understatement, and that's putting it mildly. Hope knew her boo had been going the Jiminy Cricket route and all, but to give back the company? “You caved! I loved you!” Hope wailed. Uh oh, Carter, I think I'd be worried about that past tense that Hope was awfully quick to switch to. Sounds like you're gonna be back on the dating apps before too long.

Carter assured his cheesed-off almost ex-girlfriend that he had been sure to secure HFTF for her. This led to Hope giving probably the best line of the week: “Did you get it in writing?” Well, golly whiz, of course, Carter didn't. Another thing Hope was right about was that their mission had been about getting rid of FC's toxic leadership. We're back to square one with Steffy making business decisions for personal reasons.

One thing I'm wondering – what happens now to all of Carter's ideas about mergers and making Forrester a luxury brand? Ridge, Eric, and Steffy had all pooh-poohed them, and they're all in charge again. For that matter, how come Carter didn't do any merging or acquiring while he was in the captain's chair? He launched a jewelry line that was in play before he took over and brought in some perfume, which wasn't even novel. (Forrester got Y&R's Ashley Abbott to do that in 2007.)

Whether or not Carter's unconventional-for-Forrester ideas were good or innovative is up for debate. One thing that's not is that Carter turned out to be a lousy innovator. He did a lot of talking but didn't do much in the way of action. It's too bad he didn't put on a kick-ass fashion show and have real success enacting his plan. The way it ended, Carter didn't deserve the leadership he wanted after all.

I'm going slightly mad

I think Steffy decided long ago that her power is absolute. Because, even though Eric and Ridge had crossed their hearts and hoped to die that Hope still had a line, Steffy vetoed the move the second the trio got into the office, and the elders didn't even raise an objection. It's one thing for Finn to be whipped by this chick, but father and grandfather? I guess Steffy will be the new Gangsta Granny before long. Why not – she's already packed heat, just like Stephanie.

Across the hall, Zende wondered where he'd land in the middle of yet another shake-up; maybe it's time for him to go someplace safer, like Miami, since his parents live there. Daphne had also given thought to what the sitch at FC would be after the dust settled, especially for Brooke. Because hey, Daphne owned some items from the Brooke's Bedroom line. Which is actually kind of cool. (Although I'm sure Zende was thinking, “Pictures or it didn't happen.”)

Then Daphne made the rather bonkers statement that Carter, Hope, and Brooke were traitors! How does that even work? Hope I could see, especially since Daphne's caught all the feels for Hope's boyfriend, and Hope has basically told Daphne to take a long walk off a short pier. But Carter, the object of her affection? And Brooke, who Daphne just implied she admired? You can't wear your lingerie and burn it, too.

And while Daphne's words and next week's spoilers indicate she has it bad for Carter, I have to respectfully disagree. Because Daphne always seems to be hanging around Zende. And there have been some Zaphne (Dende?) pix floating about da Innerwebs already as it is. The poor Z-Man ain't had no love since fooling around with R.J.'s literally newly-minted girlfriend over a year ago. Where's R.J. these days anyway? Has he been Netflix and chilling at Wyatt's old house this entire time?

Before Carter, Hope, and Brooke went in to take their licks, Hope griped that they had steered the company in a better direction. “Yes,” Brooke agreed, “but in an underhanded way.” At least La Logan got her 51% in plain sight and only after the Forresters screwed her over. But whatever hooks this de facto Team Logan hoped to get off of (speaking of whom, why hasn't PR honcho Katie had a say in any of this?), they got their eyebrows singed off almost immediately by Forrester's resident dragon lady.

Even if Steffy hadn't telegraphed her boom lowering like she was a direct descendent of Samuel Morse, it's not like none of us expected it. This is what Steffy does. Wouldn't it have been cool if the show had crafted something more unpredictable for Steffy? Getting over her causticity would have been too much to ask, but she could have done something different.

I don't even have to tell you that she fired Hope and s**tcanned HFTF, because of course she did. There wouldn't have been anything wrong with say, Steffy pretending to be over it but secretly plotting revenge. Or banishing Hope to the mail room (where Steffy started!). Or taking over HFTF. Or forcing Hope to work on a line of Steffy's creation. Anything would have been refreshing compared to the same road Steffy's already trod with Hope. Will she have Charlie shame-walk Hope out of FC again as an encore?

Carter reminded Steffy that he had an agreement with Eric and Ridge; Steffy had already mused to them that said deal wasn't on paper. When Carter expressed intense dismay that Steffy had reneged, Steffy warned, “Choose your words carefully.” Has she been studying the Book of Tyrants that sits open lately? And Ridge and Eric just sat there! Especially Ridge, who once again rules with Steffy as co-CEO!

Maybe The Dressmaker wanted Hope out as much as Steffy did, but he had already kept Hope on as part of the peace negotiations with Carter. What does it say about Ridge and Eric that they let Steffy run completely roughshod over both of them? Did they tell Carter one thing but mean another? Did they change their minds? Were they just looking for an excuse to boot Hope?

Because as it's written, these veteran designers looked like total wimps, deferring to the whims of this one-note brat. Now, it's not that some of the zingers Steffy got in weren't spot-on, and I'll admit that right here. “You're not a designer,” Steffy spat at Hope. “You're not a businesswoman. You're an empty figurehead.” And ya know...that's actually been true since Hope came up with Hope for the Future in 2010.

Sorry, can't deny it! Steffy also dismissed HFTF as “a line about fake morals,” which also holds true considering Hope started walking the wild side for no reason two years ago. Steffy deemed the line irrelevant, adding that it wasn't “pure anymore” as it no longer aligned with its original mandate of “goodness and morals.” Is Steffy wrong here? Once you make out with your sometime stepbrother behind your husband's back, you kind of give up your claim to those qualities.

Steffy also labeled HFTF as “a line that's a shell of itself anyway” and there aren't enough amens for me to get on that one. As I've posited before, as a story point, HFTF is boring and has been for years. Unlike the materials Hope apparently still uses in it, it's not sustainable. Fashion is supposed to be about the fresh and the new. Let's bury HFTF with trucker hats and dresses over pants and give Hope something revolutionary to do.

I also had to agree with one point Hope made, for all my chastisement of her, and that was her determination that Steffy is a bully. She is! And she has been stuck in bully mode so long, I'm beginning to think that's always been her only personality trait and everything else was an act. “Like your namesake grandmother,” Hope added. Yes, Stephanie was a bully, too. Though maybe less so before the hair came off and the pantsuits went on.

So Hope was like, “Fine, I'll go and I'm taking my boyfriend with me.” And Carter was like, “New phone, who dis?” As Brooke looked on pleadingly and Eric looked like he'd rather be on the pickleball court, Ridge pressed Carter not to make the wrong choice yet again. It wasn't much of a March Madness cliffhanger. Maybe they don't do those anymore. Besides, nothing compared to the 1995 suspense generator of Sheila supposedly having drowned Y&R's Lauren in her hot tub. How spoiled we were.

Sometimes you feel like a nut

I still can't understand why Bill went to the trouble of harboring jailbird Luna for months and pulling how many hundreds of strings to get Luna pardoned, only for him to kick her out of his house the minute she gained her freedom. I also don't understand why Luna was still loitering about at Casa Spencer when she was supposed to be bye-bye.

For that matter, I also don't get how she got her hands on a fancy green lace blouse when she spent her whole time on house arrest in baggy, unflattering clothes or how she could possibly have money for froo-froo threads when saying she had nowhere to go inferred that she was broke! But okay, whatever. Poppy, having found out that her murder-framing daughter was at Bill's (another reason Luna should have skedaddled), made a beeline for Bel Air.

I guess a condition of Luna's pardon wasn't that she get intensive therapy, because all her talk was of the crazy kind. The young killer accused Poppy of making people think Tom or Bill was Luna's father so they'd be asking about those men instead of Finn! That logic was stretched further than an industrial-sized glob of Silly Putty. And then, after staring longingly – and privately – at Will and his picture for weeks, Luna came right out and told her mother she wanted him.

Yer losin' yer touch, Luna! Hidden agendas are supposed to stay hidden. I guess Poppy got fed up with Luna, too, because when Miss Nozawa had the audacity to suggest that she and Poppy start again, Poppy went off like the fireworks display at Disneyland. “The souls of Tom and Hollis will haunt you forever!” Poppy shrieked. And Poppy wasn't about to get over Luna trying to pin the Il Giardino employees' deaths on her.

Poppy could have crumbled out of motherly love, but she didn't, and good on her. Especially when Luna actually tried to blame Poppy for the murders by saying they were all Poppy's fault because Poppy had seduced Finn! I'm surprised Poppy didn't slap Luna into the middle of next week. Instead, she retorted, “How dare you make me feel guilty about Finn!” Well, Poppy...that one is kinda on you.

Poppy must have overheard Steffy in that same room, because, much like Steffy proclaiming that Luna isn't Finn's daughter, Poppy yelled that Luna wasn't her daughter, either. Highly original, this disownment stuff. But I about got up from my couch (which, believe me, isn't easy to entice me off of) when Poppy had enough and told Luna she was tired of Luna and her sob stories about her childhood!

In fact, Poppy snapped, “It wasn't even that bad!” You go, girl! Haven't I been saying that for weeks? I mean, unless something else went on that we don't know about yet (like one of Poppy's men molesting Luna or worse, which would have been heavily traumatic), Luna attributing her murderous actions to a flaky, promiscuous mom is just maddening. As per a 1996 confession, Sheila was beaten by her father while Mama Molly looked away! You want tragic, Luna?

Speaking of Sheila, it was pretty obvious she was going to get a visit next, because Poppy ordered Luna to get out of town. The reason? “No one wants anything to do with you.” Luna's expression became a knowing one, and that's where we should have left it for a few days. But B&B doesn't do subtlety or foreshadowing anymore. Poppy might as well have said, “Luna, why don't you go see Sheila?” That, my soapy friends, is exactly what Luna did.

Continuing to work from the assumption that Sheila is Luna's grandmother, because of the we-only-have-her-word-for-it claim that Finn is Sheila's son, the idea of pairing Luna and Sheila is interesting. They both share the goal of wanting Finn in their lives. And...they're both crazy. This combo could be fun. It will be even more fun if Sheila doesn't join Luna in the insanity and actually holds to being a changed woman by using her wisdom to properly reform Luna!

It was only natural that Sheila and Luna were going to meet, but the way they did made zero – make that minus zero – sense. Sheila saw Luna and looked scared! Say what? The all-time baby-switching, shrink-imprisoning, bee-siccing, necklace-poisoning, son-shooting convict was scared of this upstart murderess? Please! Sheila could still wipe the floor with this babe in the woods like she did with Amber in 1998.

Sheila actually – and I can hardly believe I'm writing this – threatened to call the police on Luna. And then she said – I couldn't have heard her right – “Who in their right mind would pardon a homicidal maniac like you?” Oh no they didn't. Steffy, I can buy that from, as much as I hate her right now. The full-of-himself Ridge, yeah. But SHEILA?! The very woman who herself was pardoned not two years ago, and also through Bill?

Wow. I just can't, y'all. Sheila usually owns her misdeeds in one way or another, even when she blames other people for them. And Sheila's mock horror that Luna killed her husband's best friends didn't have much impact, either. Hollis, who we never saw Deacon hanging out with outside the bistro, and Tom, who Deacon had only known for maybe three months. Best friends.

Sheila dropped one more lack-of-irony bomb when she blasted Luna for being “not only a killer but a pathological liar” (are there no mirrors at Il Giardino? Can Sheila not look at herself in a freshly-vinegared utensil?), but she finally got her mojo back by barking, “I am not someone you want to mess with!” This after Luna finally stopped squeezing orange and said, “Maybe I am crazy...crazy like my grandmother.”

Mrs. Carter-Sharpe did not want to believe it. No way, no day. Until Luna just happened to mention that Steffy refused to allow her to have any kind of father-daughter relationship with Finn. Well, now! Didn't Sheila's eyes light up like a string of oncoming headlights during rush hour on the 405! Now Sheila couldn't wait to embrace her new granddaughter. With a creepy-ass kiss! On the mouth!

Long-time viewers like me will know that this was not the first time Sheila pulled this stunt, but at least it's been over 22 years since the last time. Take notes: in 2002, Sheila had been orange jumpsuited for shooting Brooke and Taylor, the latter critically; Taylor didn't “die” until after Sheila was behind bars. Sheila's daughter Mary (raised as Erica and the only child we know for sure to be Sheila's since we saw the birth on screen in 1997), was beyond not happy.

Mary knew her mom was weird, but had only just gotten the 411 on Sheila's past and Taylor and Brooke being gunned down was fresh on her mind. Mary was grossed out to the max and wanted nothing more to do with the sicko. The handcuffed Sheila advanced on Mary, almost seductively, declaring that she would always be a part of her daughter. And then Sheila gave Mary a smackeroo right on the lips!

Mary freaked and we never saw her again after she bolted (outside of a 2017 mention), but Luna didn't seem like she was gonna hurl. If anything, Luna is capable of using Sheila to get to Finn as much as Sheila is capable of using Luna to get to Finn – but do they need to use each other? They have the same goal! They also both have reason to hate Steffy. So watch out, Ms. Loudmouth Co-CEO. Sheila and Luna are comin' for ya!

That's all I've got for ya, Scoopers! Enlighten me with your thoughts on our soap in the comments below. Does anything I said ring true to you? Or do you think I'm the one that needs to be institutionalized? We're all mad here.

This fictional incarnation of Los Angeles now has three crazies on the loose in close proximity with each other: Sheila, Luna, and don't forget Remy, who made Luna's acquaintance not long ago! Steffy, Will, and Electra are all now in the crosshairs, so keep watching, be alert, and most of all, be bold. And remember – no matter color, creed, heritage, religion, gender identity, or orientation, we're all beautiful.

Watch The Bold and the Beautiful weekdays on CBS or stream the show on Paramount Plus.

(Purchase Adam-Michael James' books on Amazon.)

(Listen to isletunes, AMJ's podcast featuring nothing but music from the artists of Prince Edward Island, Canada.)